Starbucks facing calls for boycott after dropping vaccine mandate
The hashtag #BoycottStarbucks began to trend on Twitter
Calls to boycott Starbucks erupted on social media Wednesday after the coffee giant announced that it would be reversing its coronavirus vaccine policy to align with the Supreme Court's ruling on the matter.
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In a memo to employees, Starbucks said that it was reversing its policy mandating the chain's U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated. The Tuesday announcement came days after the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration’s plan to require vaccines or regular COVID-19 testing at companies with more than 100 workers.
Starbucks employs 228,000 people in the U.S.
The following day, the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks began to trend on Twitter as users voiced their outrage over the change.
Some users pledged to avoid any business that doesn't require its workers to be vaccinated.
"Our health is worth self-advocating for," the user tweeted.
STARBUCKS SCRAPS VACCINE MANDATE
Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver told employees in the memo that the company respected the ruling and would comply, even though it didn't align with the company's beliefs.
"I want to emphasize that we continue to believe strongly in the spirit and intent of the mandate," Culver said. "Thank you to the more than 90 percent of partners who have already disclosed their vaccination status, and to the vast majority who are now fully vaccinated."
However, not all companies followed suit.
For instance, work clothing maker Carhartt, which has 3,000 U.S. workers, stuck to its vaccine mandate. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company told employees in an email last Friday that the Supreme Court decision wouldn’t impact its own mandate that went into effect this month.
"We put workplace safety at the very top of our priority list and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling doesn’t impact that core value," Carhartt CEO Mark Valade wrote in an email to employees last Friday, according to a copy of the message that was circulated on social media. "We, and the medical community, continue to believe vaccines are necessary to ensure a safe working environment for every associate and even perhaps their households."
Carhartt also faced backlash for its decision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.